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Planetary Ecosynthesis
Planetary Ecosynthesis is the process of modifying a planet's atmosphere, climate, geography and ecology. It is usually done to colonize planets that were previously uninhabitable by a certain species. There are various different types of planetary ecosynthesis, both in terms of the final habitat constructed and in terms of how that is achieved. Passive vs. Aggressive There are numerous different processes for altering a planet. These processes are generally divided into two basic categories: Passive Ecosynthesis Passive Ecosynthesis, or the Miller-Chan Process as it is referred to by the human scientific community, is a way of generating a habitable planet by making manipulations around what is already there. Processes in this category are typically slower but have a higher success rate due to only a handful of variables being changed at once; if a mistake is made, it is easier to spot and reverse. Many forms of passive ecosynthesis also attempt to preserve as much of the original environment as possible. In this way, it is more ethical if the planet already has lifeforms living on it, and because of this passive ecosynthesis was the preferred method of the Irin Republic. However, passive ecosynthesis requires that the planet share some major similarities with the desired ecosystem; the process simply cannot work on worlds that are too drastically different. Aggressive Ecosynthesis Aggressive Ecosynthesis, or the Atlantean Colonization Process, is a way of making large-scale, drastic changes to a planet in order to make it inhabitable. It is a very rapid method of planetary ecosynthesis and it can be done on almost all planets with a solid surface that is within a certain radius of their star. The downside to this process is that it is particularly prone to failure, and due to the massive changes that are made at once, these failures are generally very difficult to reverse. Another downside is that aggressive ecosynthesis tends to destroy whatever original ecosystem was present. Nevertheless, it is the most efficient method for altering a planet; even with several failures the speed would still be faster than slowly and carefully ecosynthesizing one planet using a passive ecosynthesis process. For this reason it was favoured by ancient Atlantis and the Velconum Empire. Types of Ecosynthesis Planetary ecosynthesis can theoretically generate any type of ecosystem that can be naturally found (though sometimes a specific template planet is needed for certain ecosystems). The more common types of ecosynthesis, ordered by the final product, is listed here: Terraforming Terraforming is ecosynthesis which results in a planet similar to that of Earth, or a certain ecosystem that can be found on Earth. Some people use the term to refer to the creation of a planet on which humans are capable of surviving; while terraforming does sometimes produce a non-Earth like environment that humans can still live in, its ultimate goal is to produce a planet like Earth. Aquaforming Aquaforming is ecosynthesizing a planet to make it habitable for aquatic lifeforms. This form of planetary ecosynthesis is often used by the Sanctum, whose members are all aquatic or amphibious. While in definition terraforming is a type of aquaforming (because aquatic lifeforms can and do live on Earth), in practice, the Sanctum's aquaforming often involves covering an entire planet or a significant portion of it in liquid, rendering habitation on land difficult if not impossible. Fluorine Atmosphere Construction Fluorine atmosphere construction is a process used by the Kelim Hierarchy to introduce large quantities of fluorine into a planet's atmosphere. This is done in order to make a planet habitable for Mhijan, a Hierarchy species which breathes fluorine gas. The process was performed on the former human colony of Octavia IV, which was seized by the Hierarchy after their return and currently resides within their space.